Seismic Software Donated to KU

LAWRENCE--Computer software worth nearly a half-million dollars has been donated
to the University of Kansas Energy Research Center and the Kansas Geological
Survey, based at KU.

The donation comes from Seismic Micro-Technology, a corporation headquartered in
Houston, Texas.

The donated software is primarily used for analyzing seismic data, information
that is used to produce an image of subsurface geology. Seismic techniques are
commonly used in oil exploration, pollution studies, and in other applications.

The donated software was used, for example, during the Survey's study of natural
gas movement in Hutchinson last winter. Scientists used the software to display
seismic data that had been collected in the area and to help pinpoint underground
rock layers that might hold natural gas.

The software was also employed in studies related to oil-producing rocks and by
students in classes taught in the KU geology department. Survey geologist Tim
Carr even used the software in applying ground-penetrating radar to locating
burial sites and Civil War artifacts at the Kansas State Historical Society's
Mine Creek Battlefield site near Pleasanton, Kansas.

"This is an example of industry and academia cooperating to create a win-win
situation," said geophysicist Ross Black at the department of geology at the
University of Kansas. "Students are the big winners here. Faculty win because
they can design higher quality courses for students, and their research
capabilities are enhanced. The industrial partner wins because the students,
most of whom will be employed in industry, are familiar with their products."